EXPORT

this module exports the abbrev function by default.

SUBROUTINES

abbrev LIST

takes a list of strings and returns a hash reference where all of the non-ambiguous abbreviations are aliased together. the returned reference is to an ordinary hash, it is not tied or magic in any way.

the behavior could be written out this way if the := operator meant 'alias the lhs to the rhs':

abbrev HASHREF LIST

the first argument to abbrev can be a hash reference. that hash will be modified in place with the existing keys and values and then will be returned. an additional list of keys to abbreviate can be provided after the hash reference.